The purity of anger

The million march is kicking off across Egypt.

Will this be the turning point in Egypt’s history? And beyond. After a week of mayhem and pure people power the world is holding its breath. The anger of the streets is about to make or break. Will president Mubarak be toppled and forced to leave? Just like his counterpart in Tunis some weeks ago. It’s been an amazing rollercoaster.

And other not-so-democratic bastions in the region are holding their breath of being themselves the victim of the domino effect. Algeria. Morocco. Jordan. Yemen. And maybe even Saudi Arabia. The frustrations of the lower and middle class
are boiling over and any further spillage of the momentum of freedom into neighbouring, Arab states could lead to major changes. Major changes without a u-turn. Like the fall of the Berlin wall in Europe in 1989.

Tel-Aviv and Washington and watching these events like worried uncles. Increased democracy across the Arab world might seriously change the chess game of world politics. Allies will disappear maybe. Guarantees evaporate. New friendships and new enemies. Sadly, but fully part of geopolitical tactics, those not-so democratic rulers in Tunis, Egypt and beyond are often heavily supported by Washington.
At the start of the demonstrations in Egypt a reporter from the British news channel Sky News held up a teargas canister given to him by a protestor. ‘Made in America’ it said in bold letters on the metal.

The good news is that the anger wasn’t fabricated and managed by extremist Islamic groups. This was pure people power from the gut. Enough was just enough. And Tunis had shown the Egyptians that fear could be thrown of and a united anger could lead to concrete change.

These are interesting times.

Human behaviour can have an angry touch.

Meanwhile African leaders have once again shown that democracy and the rule of law are not really their standards of society. It might be good for the West and maybe even for the people of Egypt, but not really for deep Africa.

The African Union just held a summit. They nearly didn’t talk about Egypt and Tunis. But they heavily debated the stalemate in Ivory Coast. The November elections in the home of cocoa caused trouble. Sitting president Gbagbo didn’t accept the results announced by the election commission and refused to accept defeat. The man just stayed put in his palace. Opposition leader Ouattara, whom the election body gave the winning results, is stuck in a hotel protected by UN soldiers.

Several mediating teams failed to break the deadlock. The UN, the European Union, the US declared Ouattara as the winner based on the election commission’s figures. Most African nations agreed with that. Others stayed silent. But others, like South Africa, changed their tune after a few weeks.

And now the AU leaders have set up two panels to mediate in the Ivorian deadlock. Two. Indeed. Just to make it more confusing. Well known madman Robert Mugabe from Zimbabwe is part of a panel that needs to find a democratic solution to the crisis. A ruthless dictator who sends out youngsters to kill and maim opposition supporters and who destroyed the social and economic fabric of his once beautiful nation, is now part of a ‘selective’ African club of democratic experts. Go figure!!

And on top of that the 54 nation body (the African Union) has nominated the president of Equatorial Guinea as chairman. The man came to power in a coup some years ago by killing his uncle. And now he runs the AU. Go figure!!

And then of course these African leaders blame colonialism and racism when the West criticises their behaviour.

It’s called playing poker with your own constitutional principles and your own nation’s future. But then again, as long as the Swiss bank account keeps growing, it’s all just smooth riding.

Human behaviour is often just plain rude.

Back to Egypt. Some people never learn. The authorities closed down internet and cellphones to avoid the outside world seeing the protests. Just like Iran tried some time ago. Dictators are so out of touch with reality and their own limitations. You can’t hide people power. You can’t brush it away and you can’t ignore it.

Wondering what other dictators have done since the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings. Increased their cashflow? Sent the kids to Paris or Kuala Lumpur? Checked if the private jet is on order? Bought some new suitcases? For sure they sleep slightly troubled these days. They might think it can’t happen in their capital, but are they 100% confident about that? Do they trust their army? Their bodyguards? Their own families?

It’s a good day when dictators sleep restless. Keep it that way!!! Power to the people.

Throw out. US old-school rappers Public Enemy sound like the beats of these days. “Fight The Power”. “Prophets of Rage”. "Shut em Down”. “Brothers Gonna Work It Out”.

C -Ya

collateral – Feb 2011